Former Ghanaian striker, Ransford Osei
Former Ghana striker, Ransford Osei has vowed to do everything within his power to prevent his son from playing for the country.
Ransford Osei appears to be nursing some bitterness over his experience with the various national teams and has promised to ensure that if any of his children turns out to be a footballer, he will not allow them experience what he contends to be a corrupt system.
The former U-17 forward stated that he was banned from the Black Stars due to the actions of someone whose identity he refused to disclose.
Embittered Ransford Osei cited that after the 2007 U-17 World Cup, the Ghanaian players were left to fend for themselves whereas their counterparts in European countries were given the needed support to develop their game.
He noted that as a father, it beholds him to prevent his son from being a victim of a system that he holds cripples talents.
“If I’m ever getting back into football then it's probably because my son would turn a footballer and I’d be his agent. That’s the only association I’d want to have with football. If my son becomes a footballer, I will never allow him to play for any Ghanaian national team. I’m being real. I’m no longer playing active football so I can say it.
“Something happened during playing days and because of that, I did not receive any Black Stars call-up. Someone did something that courted my hatred in the face of some big men in football.
“In Ghana, being good alone is not enough to get you to the top and that’s the difference between African and whites. The white man will give you all the push when he realizes that you are talented but Africans will not do that.
“We played with Bojan Kirkic who was then in the Barcelona academy, Toni Kroos was at Bayern Munich, and a lot of them. After the tournament, they were given the platform to shine but we have to struggle for ourselves.
“Over here, the belief is that we have talent in abundance so if you don’t bribe someone you won’t be allowed to progress so why would I allow my son to go through this system,” he said.
Osei featured for Ghana at the U-17 level in 2007 where he played a key role in the Black Starlets' journey to placing third at the 2007 U-17 African Youth Championship. He ended the tournament as the silver boot with six goals.
He went on to replicate the same in the 2009 U-20 AFCON where he won the golden boot with seven goals as Ghana went on to clinch the title, the first by an African country.
KPE
